2009 WISCONSIN ACT 363
An Act to amend 13.41 (1) (a) (intro.) and (2) (a) (intro.), 166.05 (1) (title) and 166.05 (2); and to create 13.41, 13.42, 14.38 (10m) and 166.05 (1m) of the statutes; relating to: interim successors for legislators, meetings of the legislature and legislative committees, and temporary seat of government for the legislature.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
363,2m
Section 2m. 13.41 of the statutes is created to read:
13.41 Interim successors for legislators. (1) (a) If, during an emergency resulting from enemy action, there are 9 or more vacancies in the senate at the same time, as determined under s. 17.03, the senate leader of each political party, as specified in pars. (b) and (c), shall, for each vacant senate seat that was last held by a member of his or her party, do all of the following:
1. Request that the state chairperson of the party solicit nominations for an interim successor from the county chairpersons of the party in each county that is at least partially within the senate district.
2. Request that the state chairperson of the party select at least 3 and not more than 5 potential interim successors from the nominees under subd. 1.
3. Request that the state chairperson of the party submit the names of the potential interim successors selected under subd. 2. to the senate leader of the party within 7 days after the date on which the 9th vacancy occurred.
4. Within 14 days after the 9th vacancy occurred, appoint an interim successor from the list of potential interim successors submitted under subd. 3.
(b) The person holding the highest position, ranked in the following order, that is not vacant, is the senate leader for the majority party under par. (a):
1. The senate majority leader.
2. The president of the senate.
3. The president pro tempore of the senate.
4. The assistant senate majority leader.
5. The senate majority caucus chairperson.
6. The senate majority caucus vice chairperson.
7. The senate majority caucus sergeant at arms.
(c) The person holding the highest position, ranked in the following order, that is not vacant, is the senate leader for the minority party under par. (a):
1. The senate leader of the party.
2. The senate assistant leader of the party.
3. The senate caucus chairperson of the party.
4. The senate caucus vice chairperson of the party.
5. The senate caucus sergeant at arms of the party.
(2) (a) If, during an emergency resulting from enemy action, there are 25 or more vacancies in the assembly at the same time, as determined under s. 17.03, the assembly leader of each political party, as specified in pars. (b) and (c), shall, for each vacant assembly seat that was last held by a member of his or her party, do all of the following:
1. Request that the state chairperson of the party solicit nominations for an interim successor from the county chairpersons of the party in each county that is at least partially within the assembly district.
2. Request that the state chairperson of the party select at least 3 and not more than 5 potential interim successors from the nominees under subd. 1.
3. Request that the state chairperson of the party submit the names of the potential interim successors selected under subd. 2. to the assembly leader of the party within 7 days after the date on which the 25th vacancy occurred.
4. Within 14 days after the 25th vacancy occurred, appoint an interim successor from the list of potential interim successors submitted under subd. 3.
(b) The person holding the highest position, ranked in the following order, that is not vacant, is the assembly leader for the majority party under par. (a):
1. The speaker of the assembly.
2. The assembly majority leader.
3. The speaker pro tempore of the assembly.
4. The assistant assembly majority leader.
5. The assembly majority caucus chairperson.
6. The assembly majority caucus vice chairperson.
7. The assembly majority caucus secretary.
8. The assembly majority caucus sergeant at arms.
(c) The person holding the highest position, ranked in the following order, that is not vacant, is the assembly leader for a minority party under par. (a):
1. The assembly leader of the party.
2. The assembly assistant leader of the party.
3. The assembly caucus chairperson of the party.
4. The assembly caucus vice chairperson of the party.
5. The assembly caucus secretary of the party.
6. The assembly caucus sergeant at arms of the party.
(3) The senate and assembly political party leaders may not appoint an interim successor who is unwilling, unable, or ineligible under the constitution and the statutes to serve as a legislator.
(4) Interim successors appointed under sub. (1) or (2) shall take the oath of office immediately upon appointment, but may not be required, as a prerequisite to the exercise of the powers or discharge of the duties of a legislator, to comply with any other provision of law relative to taking office.
(5) The chief clerk of each house, or if he or she is unavailable, his or her deputy, shall notify the secretary of state of all vacancies that are filled by interim successors under this section.
(6) An interim successor taking office under this section shall exercise the powers and discharge the duties of the office until the vacancy is filled under s. 17.19. All votes taken by an interim successor shall be as valid as if taken by an elected legislator.
363,2r
Section 2r. 13.41 (1) (a) (intro.) and (2) (a) (intro.) of the statutes, as created by 2009 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), are amended to read:
13.41 (1) (a) (intro.) If, during an emergency resulting from enemy action, there are 9 or more vacancies in the senate at the same time, as determined under s. 17.03, the senate leader of each political party shall, for each vacant senate seat that was last held by a member of his or her party, do all of the following:
(2) (a) (intro.) If, during an emergency resulting from enemy action, there are 25 or more vacancies in the assembly at the same time, as determined under s. 17.03, the assembly leader of each political party shall, for each vacant assembly seat that was last held by a member of his or her party, do all of the following:
363,3
Section
3. 13.42 of the statutes is created to read:
13.42 Virtual meetings of the legislature and legislative committees. (1) In this section:
(a) "Disaster" means a severe or prolonged, natural or human-caused, occurrence that threatens or negatively impacts life, health, property, infrastructure, the environment, the security of this state or a portion of this state, or critical systems, including computer, telecommunications, or agricultural systems.
(b) "Member" means a member of the legislature.
(2) Either house of the legislature, under its rules or joint rules, may issue a notice that the house and its committees are prevented from physically meeting at the seat of government due to an emergency resulting from a disaster or the imminent threat of a disaster.
(3) If a house issues a notice under sub. (2), that house and any committee of that house may conduct a meeting and transact business through the use of any means of communication by which all of the following occur:
